Silver Springs Estate Bungalow, Ingiriya

Large moth

Fish will nibble at your toes

Tea plantation

We headed off to Ingiriya on the morning of Friday, 4 February, 2011. It took us roughly around 1 hour and 45 minutes to reach our destination.This is our third time to this wonderful place. The bungalow is surrounded by cinnamon, tea and rubber plantations. This is the ideal place to stay if you enjoy peace and quiet. You can laze the entire day on the slippery moss laden rocks embedded in the running fresh spring alongside the bungalow, if you wish, or you can serve your meals and have a hot sri lankan rice and curry in the shade of the summer hut. If you are the outdoors sort of person why not let the kitchen staff do you a BBQ dinner while you sip a freshly squeezed juice from the lemons of the land. Your take and how you enjoy yourself is what matters most.



Ariel view of the running spring





And when that enjoyment was not enough our day had still not ended. We viewed the much awaited Kinnara 2011, the Hewisi Band performance on the footsteps of the Chapel of S Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia.

My darling Bud of May

Aquila is our second, born in the month of May. And while I share the same birth month with him, I truly believe that he is my darling Bud of May. He was not willing to have his father takes his photo, but mama convinced him (as always) and this is how he looked just before going to Montessori for National Day Celebrations. He plays drums in the school band: a position he envied right along from his second year onwards and now that he is in his third and graduation year, he has landed himself at top slot.

We are heading off for the long weekend to Silver Springs Estate in Ingiriya and I shall have some lovely photos ready for you next week.

Stay calm

Candice

Records

With the advent of the home theatre system, there are some things that need to be stashed away forever. But for a collector of stylish show-pieces, these are invaluable.  If you like to have them by paying a modest sum, please contact me.

Cheers

Candice

The Dutch Burgher Union

The VOC emblem

With the intention of purchasing some authentic beef smore, I strolled into the compound of the Dutch Burgher Union (DBU) at Reid Avenue, Colombo 4. I was drawn into the quiet surroundings and into the building to live and breathe my very existence. I am a true Dutch Burgher in every way and I could have smelt the air of 'burgherism' around me in this building. The Dutch Burgher Union established in 1908 after an initial and informal meeting in 1907, paved the way for interaction, social and intellectual well-being of Dutch Burghers in Ceylon. By the time I set my foot in, I completely forgot my beef smore, but as always, I will go there again...to my roots.



The initial as a floor style



DBU logo

Part of the Logo as a floor pattern

The lovely fan and light in the recreation nook

The beautiful window style and old hat rack

The absolutely brilliant bar dresser-notice the wooden pattern and carvings

The grand piano

The elegant stairway lined with photos of Past Presidents

The immaculate garden and the window pelmet indicating the date of origin

The well appointed washroom

Grand glass and wood panelling

Who inspires me to Blog?

My creativity was encased in a shell, so to speak, for many years. I did the creating, repurposing, rearranging and organising all by myself and yes of course the raves and reviews were there no doubt.  But when I stumbled upon blogger.com giving anyone the chance to host their own blog, I thought yes, why not.  Not only had I now an avenue to release all my pent up energy and creativity, but I also had a way of showcasing the wonderful work of these ladies:  http://www.celebrationsathomeblog.com/, http://www.lemiga.com/blog/, http://eatdrinkpretty.blogspot.com/, http://www.swankytablesblog.com/, http://www.thetomkatstudio.com/
and of course the lovely and only gentleman http://www.holidaywithmatthewmead.com/.



Go ahead and get ready to be inspired

Cheers

Candice

Color Inspiration From Sweden

Color Inspiration From Sweden

(Image: Decor8)



I love the riot of colour and I am in love with the designs, so simple and elegant that I just want to rush and recreate. These lovely images are from http://decor8blog.com/

love

candice

Paper Quills

The old fashioned paper craft known as quilling is used to make these distinctive cards and all sorts of wonderful other crafts, ranging from invitation cards, greeting cards, pictures to mount etc.  In paper quilling you will need an assorted number of coloured A4 papers, strong clear glue, cardboard in contrasting colours and of course your imagination, lots of it.  Paper quilling takes long hours even for the seasoned quiller since each quill requires that you cut long narrow strips of various shades of the coloured paper you will be using. Then you need to curl one end of each strip with the blunt edge of a pair of scissors and then roll the strip into a tight coil.  You need to have very nimble fingers for this very tidy job and loads of patience.  My friend Yogika is a master of her profession and here below are her masterpieces.

Yogika Soysa

Image: YS

Image: YS

Image: Image idea from the web

Image: YS